Page 33 of The Wrong Drive-
“Looks like it’ll be Christmas before the east sides of the county get cleared,”the voice on the radio spits.“Next round of snow is already here.”
I turn off the radio and leave it in the barn with the Jeep. I know I’ll have to break the vehicle down and get rid of it. Or maybe drive it into the river when the freeze clears in the Spring. I’ll figure it out. But not tonight. I need to get inside and check on Emersyn. She’s pissed at me. Rightfully so, I suppose.
But at least she’s not dead. She should be thankful for that. Maybe.
I make the journey back to the cabin just as the snow starts to fall again. I sigh, knowing that if we get another few feet of snow, things are going to be even more complicated—and that’s moretime in enclosed spaces. I push away the thought as I open the front door, spotting Emersyn by the fire, her head down.
She’s still in her parka and drenched jeans. My chest tightens at the sight. It’s a lot worse than I expected. For some reason, I didn’t think about the repercussions of killing her boyfriend. Er, ex-boyfriend. Whatever he was. He thought he was doing her a favor by rescuing her. But it was his fucking duty. He shouldn’t have complained about it, called her a whore, or tried to kill my fucking dog—my only lifeline.
“You need to get out of those wet clothes,” I say finally as I slide out of my snow pants and parka. I expect her to rattle off some sort of snarky reply.
But she doesn’t. She acts like she doesn’t even hear me.
“Isaid,you need to get out of those clothes and get some sleep.”
Emersyn lifts her head but doesn’t look at me. Her eyes stay focused on the flames in front of her as she slides out of the parka. She then slowly rises to her feet, her coat in her arms. I walk to her, and she remains unmoved as I take it from her arms.
“I’ll hang this up for you.”
Nothingin response.
Emersyn turns on her heels and heads down the hallway, her jeans sticking to her as she slips away into the darkness.
“Goodnight,” I call after her, my stomach swirling.
Maybe I should’ve killed her.
Because this fucking feeling I have now, iskillingme.
Four blizzard days pass.Four.Emersyn won’t look me in the face. She won’t utter awordto me. She went from talking to fill the silence to forcing me to drown in it. She eats granola barsand stays in the bedroom. I only know she’s here by the fucking lump in the bed when I pass through to piss or shower.
And I’m not okay with this arrangement.
I tried to give her space, but tonight, I’m done with it. She’s either going to talk to me, or she’s going to fucking die at my dinner table. She willnotbe a fucking ghost in my house.
I set dinner, another shit casserole, on the table, and then decide toforceher to sit at my fucking table. I rap my fist on the bedroom door. “Dinner.”
Nothing.
I reach for the knob, and turn it, shoving the door open with force. “Isaid,it’sdinner time.”
She sits cross-legged on the bed, her damp hair spilling over her shoulders, and her black sweatshirt hanging loosely on her shrinking frame. She stares at her hands.
“Get up,” I command, taking a step toward her. “You’re eating with me tonight.”
“No,” she says, her voice barely audible.
“Yes, you are,” I stalk toward her, catching the scent of her as I come within a foot of where she sits. “Youaregoing to eat with me.”
She shakes her head.
“Fuck, Emersyn,” I seethe, clenching my fists. “Get up.”
“No,” she answers. Rage floods my vision, and I don’t know if I want to fall to my fucking knees andbegher to come with me or choke the life right out of her.Why is she doing this? Why does this all have to be so hard?
I reach down, clamping my hand around her forearm. “You’re coming.” I drag her off the side of the bed, and she whimpers as I give her zero gentleness. “You’re making me do it this way. I won’t let you die of starvation.”
She stays silent as I damn near drag her the entire way to the kitchen. I pull out the chair, force her to sit down, and thenfill her plate with a chicken rice casserole. She goes to stand up, but I’m faster, pulling my pistol and setting it beside my dinner plate. She sits back down.
